Chapter Eight

Dyson woke from the best night’s sleep he’d had in a long time. Despite the late hour that they’d finally turned in, he was up early feeling like a million dollars.

“Well, you’re chipper this morning.” Matt looked up at him from the breakfast table as Dyson returned to the house.

“I know. I’ve got all the chores done, too, so we can go as soon as you’re ready,” Dyson announced with a smile.

“Hope you haven’t been overdoing it, bro.” Matt frowned. “You’re supposed to be taking things easy, remember? I thought you were taking a few days off to have some rest—you haven’t stopped this week!”

“I’m fine, don’t you worry about me,” Dyson assured him, stealing a piece of his brother’s toast.

“Yeah, I see that.” Matt groaned as his last slice of breakfast was swiped through the air and into his brother’s mouth.

Dyson chuckled.

“She’s not expecting us for at least another hour yet,” Matt remarked, clearing away his dishes.

“No harm in being a little early. Besides, the sooner we pick her up the longer we’ll have up the mountain.” Dyson had it all worked out.

Matt grinned. “You’ve got a good point there, bro.”

Minutes later they were clambering into the pick-up.

“I’ll drive. You’re still supposed to be resting, remember?” Matt barged behind the wheel.

Dyson shook his head. “Okay, Mom.” He rolled his eyes.

“Just don’t want you wearing yourself out, that’s all,” Matt told him with a snigger. “Besides, you might need to conserve some of that energy of yours for later.”

Dyson laughed. “Hey, we’re taking it slowly, remember?”

“I know.” Matt gunned the engine as he spun out of the yard. “Though I thought I’d need to remind you of that after last night.”

“I didn’t want to say goodnight,” Dyson admitted, remembering that very long, drawn-out scene outside the Melrose Motel.

“Me neither, bro. But we don’t want a repeat of last time, do we?”

Dyson shook his head. “Mandy wasn’t the one for us. I know that now. It’s a shame, but some things just ain’t meant to be.” He felt a pang in his gut as he remembered their disastrous attempt at wooing one of the local girls.

“She’s a nice enough girl, all the same,” Matt reminded him. “I thought she was more suited to Fielding after they went off together, but that didn’t seem to work out either.”

“I know. Wonder if that’s why he was so hell-bent on muscling in on Carla.” Dyson was thoughtful for a moment, realizing why his brother had been so annoyed at Aiden for asking her out before they got a chance to. Was Aiden trying to get his own back? No, he was a good friend. And their feelings toward Carla were making them paranoid!

“I reckon so.” Matt clearly thought differently. “Although you’d have thought he’d have learned his lesson by now. Any girl interested in us sure won’t want what he’s offering.”

“We don’t know that Carla is interested yet,” Dyson told him a little ruefully. “After all, she doesn’t know what we’re into. She might run a mile.” The thought hurt him bad, but it was as well to face facts.

“She sure seemed interested in us last night, don’t you think?” Matt mused.

“I hope so, bro. We need to take it easy, though. Don’t wanna spook her or anything.”

Matt nodded, pursing his lips as he drove toward the motel.

“We should have got her cell phone number.” Dyson admonished himself as they pulled up in the parking lot. “Think she’ll be up yet?”

Matt checked the clock on the dash. “We’re not that early,” he said thoughtfully. “Still, there’s only one way to find out.”

They climbed out of the truck and went inside.

“Morning, Trevor. We’re looking for Carla. She up yet?” Dyson smiled at the sour-faced proprietor, who seemed irritated to have visitors this early on a Sunday morning.

“Who?”

“Carla Burchfield. She’s staying here, we believe?” Dyson frowned at the confused-looking old guy.

Trevor Melrose shook his head. “Nope.”

Dyson and Matt exchanged a wary look.

“She booked in just a couple of nights ago,” Dyson went on slowly.

Trevor spun the visitor’s book around to face him. “See for yourself, Sheriff. I’ve had no one by that name here. Sure you’ve got the right place?”

Dyson felt a burn in his stomach as he stared at the register. The last entry was not much more than a scribble, and certainly didn’t bear any resemblance to Carla’s name.

“Who’s this?” He pointed to the illegible scrawl.

“Young girl. Been here three nights now. Can’t rightly remember what she said her name was, but it sure wasn’t no Carla Burchfield.” His voice was gruff.

“’Bout mid-twenties, long dark hair. Real pretty?” Matt took a step closer to the desk to study the book. “Looks like something beginning with a ‘P’,” he remarked, pointing at the handwriting.

“Yep that’s it, Paulette something-or-other.” Trevor pounced on Matt. “And I think she did have dark hair now you come to mention it. Had a cap on when she first arrived, but when she came back in she looked totally different—I thought she was someone else at first, to be truthful. I s’pose she’s what you might call pretty. I don’t take much notice of these things, meself.”

“She hasn’t checked out yet,” Dyson noticed, taking another look at the register. “She still here?”

Trevor narrowed his eyes. “She’s staying till the end of the week, maybe longer, she said.” He frowned at them. “She in some kind of trouble, Sheriff?”

The young guys exchanged another look.

“No, not that I know of ” Dyson replied, as eager to allay the old man’s suspicions as much as his own. “I must’ve got her name wrong, that’s all. Do you know where she is now?”

Trevor glanced up at the clock. “Probably over at the café across the street. I notice she usually takes breakfast in there.”

Dyson felt his heart hammer painfully against his ribs as they thanked him and hurried over the road.

“Don’t go jumping to conclusions, bro,” he warned Matt just before they went into the café. “Play it cool, okay? There’s probably some very simple explanation for all this.”

“Yeah, right.” Matt’s mumble only echoed his own feelings, though he couldn’t admit it, even to himself.

He opened the door and was relieved to see Carla chatting merrily to the waitress as she tucked into a large breakfast. She looked absolutely beautiful and he felt his heart melt just looking at her. If the poor girl was in some kind of trouble he was going to have to tread carefully. He knew that a gung-ho approach would not only upset her, it would also ruin any chances they might have with her. And there was no way he could risk that. The place was almost empty, with just a couple of other customers sat over by the window.

“Good morning.” The waitress welcomed them with a huge smile, and Carla turned around to see who she was talking to.

“Morning, ladies.” Dyson tried to sound as casual as he could, aware of the horrified expression on Carla’s face.

“Can I get you something?” the waitress went on.

“Just a couple of coffees please.” Dyson was aware of Carla’s eyes boring into him as he spoke but he didn’t look at her.

“Coming right up. Sit anywhere you like, gentlemen. We’re not exactly short on space.” The waitress beamed at them.

“Right here’ll do just fine, thank you, ma’am,” Matt replied, sliding into the booth next to Carla.

The woman looked surprised but said nothing as she went to fetch their drinks.

“Mornin’, baby.” Dyson sat opposite them, placing his hat on the seat next to him.

Carla flushed, looking a little wary. “Hi. You’re early.”

“That’s all right, you finish your breakfast. We can use some coffee anyway,” Matt replied, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.

She seemed to have lost her appetite already. “I’m done.” She placed her cutlery down and took a large gulp of her coffee.

“Thank you.” Dyson smiled as the waitress put their drinks in front of them.

“H-how did you find me?” Carla frowned as she looked from one brother to the other.

“The old guy in the motel said you’d be here,” Matt told her casually.

Dyson watched the color drain from her face as she stared at them. He watched her glance nervously over at the waitress, who had gone to clear the table by the window as the couple was now leaving.

“I see,” she whispered.

Her big brown eyes were obviously pleading with him not to make a scene, but she needn’t have worried. Dyson had no intention of calling her out just yet.

“Look, I had a great time last night,” she said quietly as she folded her napkin, placing it over her plate.

“Well now, that’s good.” Matt smacked his lips as he drank his coffee. “’Cos we did, too, didn’t we, bro?”

Dyson nodded. “Sure did,” he concurred. “In fact, I didn’t want it to end, I enjoyed it so much.” He took a large gulp of his drink, eager not to ruin the joy of the previous evening. After all, they didn’t know for sure that they had anything to worry about yet. She was clearly looking for a way to cancel their date today, however, but there was no way they were going to let her.

“Looks like a lovely day,” Matt went on, brightly. “And those horses sure could do with a good trek.”

“You finished?” Dyson eyed her half-full plate a little uncertainly. Her whole demeanor had changed since they’d joined her, and the thought saddened him.

She nodded. “Yup.”

“Let’s hit the road then.” Matt swigged down the last of his coffee as they all got up and he threw some notes on the table.

“Put it away,” Matt growled at Carla as she took out her wallet. She frowned but did as he said, throwing him a grateful—but weak—smile.

“See ya later,” the waitress called over to them as they made their way toward the door.

Carla waved to her as they left.

“Got everything you need?” Dyson checked before they climbed into the truck.

Carla nodded, though she seemed a little unsure.

He offered her his hand as she climbed up the step into the cab, just as Matt helped her in from the other side, having got behind the wheel already.

Dyson looked over at her as Matt drove them back toward the farm. She looked a little uneasy, much different from the last time they’d been together. She chewed her inner cheek as her eyes flitted from him to his brother. He knew she must be wondering how much they had found out about her this morning, but he wasn’t ready to show his hand just yet. He would rather she volunteered the information—assuming there was anything to tell.

“So, Carla, did you grow up on a ranch or a farm over in Wyoming?” he tried to sound casual but noticed her whole body bristle sharply. “Only, I was just interested in how you came to learn to ride, that’s all.”

She seemed content with his hasty explanation, and she actually managed a smile.

“Yeah, my grandparents had a ranch, I learned there,” she told them. “We used to go up there every summer.”

“Sounds like you enjoyed it there?” Matt chirped.

“I loved it,” she said, beaming over at him.

“So you’re more at home out here in the countryside?” Dyson inquired.

“Yeah. I much prefer it.”

She seemed much more relaxed as they kept the conversation light on their way back. By the time they arrived at the farm Dyson was beginning to think they might have overreacted after all, and was pleased they hadn’t ruined the day by asking her about the false name—after all, it was just possible there had been a genuine mistake.

“I’ll just grab us a picnic,” he offered as they climbed down from the truck. “Why don’t you go with Matt and get the horses ready?”

Carla beamed and jumped down from the cab, eagerly following Matt across to the stables.

Dyson smiled as he made his way inside and grabbed some food for their trip. He really liked having Carla around—she was so enthusiastic about everything and he felt bad for doubting her earlier.

When he caught up with them again they had already saddled up the horses and were walking them across the yard. He was pleased to see that they were laughing, and was relieved that Matt had obviously managed to lighten the mood even more. Judging by the salacious expression on Matt’s face their joke wasn’t all that innocent, either.

“Your brother’s outrageous!” Carla giggled as soon as she saw him strolling toward them.

Dyson rolled his eyes playfully. “Tell me about it.”

“You’ve got Bronco,” Matt told him, handing him the reins of one of the horses.

“Gee, thanks for that, bro.”

“Is he all right?” Carla looked slightly anxious.

“Don’t worry, darlin’. He’s only called that ’cause he’s the laziest one of the bunch. It’s the sort of irony our momma used to love.” Matt grinned.

Dyson hoisted himself onto the beast, having secured the food in the saddle bags. “Gee, thanks, bro. I was hoping to make at least a little impression on the girl!”

“Too late for that, bud.” Matt chortled as he threw himself easily into the saddle of Star, the largest of the three quarter-horses.

Dyson was pleased to see how gracefully Carla had climbed onto her steed, Comet, whose rich mane was almost the same color as her own hair.

They rode off the spread and took the track which led up into the mountains while the late morning sun beamed down on them.

It was a gentle ride up the track and Dyson watched Carla admiring the beautiful scenery.

“It’s so luscious and green up here,” she remarked, looking around.

“Must be all the rain we get,” Matt moaned playfully.

She giggled, shaking her head, causing her loose curls to tumble carelessly around her shoulders. She wore a pretty white lacy top today with those jeans which accentuated her curvaceous legs. Her boots had seen better days and Dyson couldn’t help wondering how many miles she had walked in them—and why. Her tan skin was a sure indication that this girl was used to being outdoors and she looked quite at home up there in the saddle. He smiled. She sure was beautiful.

Partway up the mountain was a gurgling stream that meandered through the rockier stretch of the trail. They stopped for the horses to take a drink, and Dyson took some bottles of water from one of the bags.

“Here.” He slid off his horse and offered the drinks around. Carla beamed back at him before climbing elegantly down, taking his hand as she did so.

Dyson felt his stomach burn at her soft touch. The girl was all woman and he couldn’t resist throwing an arm around her as Matt joined them.

“This is so beautiful.” Carla smiled as they sat lazily on the grass enjoying a break. “I could stay up here forever.”

Dyson felt a jolt in his stomach and a whisper of hope in his heart. Trevor Melrose seemed to think she was only staying a few nights—could it be that she had already changed her mind?